What if Angel had stayed?

[ChrisCMMi]

If Angel and buffy's relationship hadn't been strained, do you think they ciould have kept him on the show as a main character? I would have loved to see him stick around.

[Blondie Bear]

Hi, there! It's great to have you on the boards. The question you've asked really belongs in one of the other sections of the forum; this one's for introducing yourself. If you're lost or confused, you can post a request to be adopted in the Bad Eggs forum. One of the mods will be along soon, and you can ask them for help, as well.

Hope you enjoy it here!

Edit:

And I just totally realized that I thought this was posted in the "Check In" forum, and boy is my face red, but still, I'm not 100% sure this belongs here. *slinks off into the corner to be embarrassed*

[Cangel]

Nope, I don't think so. The reason came back for season3 even was that the producers got green light for an Angel spin-off. If that spin-off had never been, Angel would've probably been written off for good, so no way.

[Blondie Bear]

Lyri agrees: It was posted in Check In...I moved it here.

Okay, I feel much less stupid now. *sheepish grin*

[Allycat]

Nope, I don't think so. The reason came back for season3 even was that the producers got green light for an Angel spin-off. If that spin-off had never been, Angel would've probably been written off for good, so no way.

Obviously there's that. But imagine it from an in-universe perspective. If they're relationship hadn't been so strained, would Angel still have left for LA after defeating the Mayor... or would he have stayed in Sunnydale?

[Dlou444]

I don't know, there would be a LOT of IFs, it seems.

First, we'd have to say IF we weren't talking about TV and spin-offs. Then, since the relationship was mostly strained by the curse, we'd have to say IF there was no curse...or at the very least, no curse loop-hole.

At which point, we'd have to write in almost a whole new seasons 2 and 3.

Still, I've never thought Bangel would last. It has always seemed too...I don't know, maybe highschool, maybe lust, it just never seemed based on actual STUFF. It always seemed more "Angel is dreamy" and "Buffy's a babe". There was never a lot of talk about WHY they liked each other. Worse, on WHY they were so madly in love. It all seemed very superficial.
Honestly, I don't think I could have handled 7 seasons of "Angel is dreamy".

[Keanoite]

If Buffy and Angel had been able to have a normal healthy relationship without fearing that he would turn psycho at the first sign of happiness I thin he would have stayed.

[Kana]

I'm so glad he was cursed and he left, because of Ats, yeah!!!!!

I think Angel either wouldn't have developed as he could have done or he may have kept up with his growing sense of confidence and may have clashed with Buffy like in Santuary.

To be honest, I'm not sure. I'm just glad he got his own mission instead of remaining as mission's boyfriend or mission's true love.

[white avenger]

If Angel had stayed on "Buffy," there obviously would have been no "Angel, the Series," therefore probably no evolution of Wesley or Cordelia, at least not as we know them, no Fred, Gunn, or Illyria, and no Lorne. Back in Sunnydale, Xander and Cordelia would probably have stayed together, therefore no Anya. Faith's story would most likely be a lot different if she ever existed at all. Last, but certainly not least, there would almost certainly have been no Spike, at least not as we know him. We would never see his evolution from monster to champion.

On the good side, there would most likely be no Riley or Parker, and maybe no Dawn.

And it would probably have been Angel who burned up closing the hellmouth.

[Lyri]

No Connor?!! *cries*

I can't see S2 being that much different, Buffy killed him at the endm, he came back in S3, and worked to redeem himself the eyes of the Scoobies.

I can't actually see S3 being all that much differnt either, except fpr the end, where he obiously stays in Sunnydale. Cordelia might have also stayed, maybe not with Xander, but probably stuck around.

There would have been no redemption of Faith, as he sleeping with Riley and him telling her he loved 'her' even though he thought she was Buffy, was what pushed her into leaving town and heading to LA, where she ran into Angel. But, with the curse, if it was still in effect, she wouldn't have been able to sleep with Angel, and Faith or Buffy might have ultimatly killed the other.

Okay, don't wanna think about it anymore, too much Bangel love, yuk!!

[willow23]

Honestly, though I don't have anything against Angel as a person,(or vampire as it were) but I think that Buffy as a TV show would have suffered with him in the cast for the rest of the series. Not that I think Davis Boreanaz is a bad actor, its more about anger as a character. The Buffy/Angel relationship had been explored in enough depth by the end of Season 3. With Angel still around the show would have not been able to explore various degrees of moral greyness through Spike in the same way. Not only because his character arc would literally have taken up time in the episodes, but because of the direction it would have taken the show. It is better that Angel split off into his own show both in order to give the Buffyverse more airtime in which to tell its stories, but because the Buffy/Angel thing was somewhat played out and his departure allowed Buffy to move in other directions.

[~angelic slayer~]

As many members know, I'm a HUGE Buffy/Angel shipper, and often even go so far as to rewrite the storyline through ficlets to try and keep his character with those of BTVS. Out of all the characters on btvs, he was the worst to see go, for me.

But at the same time, I don't think it would have worked, having him around.

As much of a fan as I am, I really think looking back that he and Buffy really both needed to grow up (Buffy in general, him in growing into his humanity, rather than hiding behind a "creature of the night" persona). His leaving meant that Angel was forced into a new and independent role as a "hero" on his own-- with friends around him that served as a very humanizing force. Look at Cordelia, Wes, Doyle-- all of his friends forced out SOME aspect of humanity that even after his years with Buffy had been supressed. In Sunnydale, Buffy was really his only signifigant tie to humanity (and the only person that he had a friendship with for that matter, which isn't healthy for anyone).

And then we have Buffy. Parker, Riley, Spike-- all those guys taught her something about life (and herself) that I don't know if she'd learn with Angel around. Would she learn what it's like to have a guy use you? To maybe/maybe not be in love with someone as much as they want you to be? To sleep with someone out of depression, rather than love? All were experiences that drastically changed her character and forced her to grow up. And muchlike Angel, she for a lot of the later seasons was independent-- standing alone on her own two feet. Which again, I don't know if she'd ever learn how to do with him there (obviously slaying aside, I'm talking about being an independent human being).

Also, look what went on. The Initiative could have used Angel against Buffy, or Cordelia would have been dead in LA somewhere (probably most of the characters on Angel would have been). And the Dawn situation; when Buffy sacrificed herself on the show her mom had died, three guys had used her so far, she had found out that her sister "wasn't real" and had spent months trying whatever she could to protect her AND deal with being the head of the household-- although it was still a difficult choice, she saw it as "her time" to let go. To die. I can't help but wonder how that situation would have ended up if she and Angel were on year 5 (on again off again) together. Or if he would have tried to intervene in some way.

I don't know, it's just the more and more I think about it, the more and more I think that maybe it was best that they were seperated. I would have liked to see him come back in season 6 or 7 (or even 8, for that matter... pretending the spinoff didn't exist), but I think him STAYING the whole way through would have in the end been bad for both characters. Even if not for the reasons that Angel gave when he left.

[Crazy Flakes]

I know this thread is entirely hypothetical, but if Angel hadn't gotten his own show, he'd be dead. They only brought him back after Becoming because they wanted to give him his own show.

But, if he had been brought back and didn't get his own show, I think he would've been killed eventually anyway. Even though I am a fan of Buffy and Angel's relationship, if she had the same love interest the whole series, how boring would that have been? And, even if they did break up, Angel would probably be killed soon after because, on Buffy, Angel didn't really contribute much...he was really only there to be Buffy's boyfriend. That was why I was happy with the fact that he got his own series. Even though I thought he was a pretty dull character on BtVS, on Angel, we got to see the side of him that wasn't just his constant admiration of Buffy, something that I don't think we would've seen if he didn't get his own spinoff.

[ChrisCMMi]

I think the reason their relationship was strained was because they wanted him off of the show. New characters had to come along as the seasons went on and unfortunately Angel didn't make it for the ride ::huh1::

[x Queen cordy x]

I think even if there relationship stayed strong and he never left they were bound to break up lets face it how could he ever truly make her 100% happy?

[littlewilly]

im glad things went the way they did coz Angel was a good series, but if he didnt get a spinoff there is no way they should have brought him back in s3. it cheapened s2 ending.